I find the description of the confrontation between Peter and Paul quite enlightening. As a Protestant (for 35 years) I'd always believed it was a genuine disagreement (and perhaps a dig at all things Petrine). Since becoming Orthodox I'd only ever heard one-liners about it - "Yeah, it was a ruse, a setup". But, I think I'm understanding it now. In fact we probably see it all the time. A wise school teacher may observe a "leader" (lets call him Jack) amongst the students being pressured by their "followers" to commit an infraction or advance a dubious agenda - leaving the school grounds at lunch-time perhaps. If the teacher, addressing Jack in front of the entire class says "And Jack, I don't want to hear anymore about you and your friends leaving the grounds at lunch-time" the pressure from below is released. Jack is simultaneously, rebuked, freed and validated as an informal leader. The hierarchy is strengthened.
Oh, that's an excellent illustration of the idea. Especially if "Jack" is concerned not with his position as leader but entirely with the well-being of his followers.
I find the description of the confrontation between Peter and Paul quite enlightening. As a Protestant (for 35 years) I'd always believed it was a genuine disagreement (and perhaps a dig at all things Petrine). Since becoming Orthodox I'd only ever heard one-liners about it - "Yeah, it was a ruse, a setup". But, I think I'm understanding it now. In fact we probably see it all the time. A wise school teacher may observe a "leader" (lets call him Jack) amongst the students being pressured by their "followers" to commit an infraction or advance a dubious agenda - leaving the school grounds at lunch-time perhaps. If the teacher, addressing Jack in front of the entire class says "And Jack, I don't want to hear anymore about you and your friends leaving the grounds at lunch-time" the pressure from below is released. Jack is simultaneously, rebuked, freed and validated as an informal leader. The hierarchy is strengthened.
Oh, that's an excellent illustration of the idea. Especially if "Jack" is concerned not with his position as leader but entirely with the well-being of his followers.